Something Blue
by WriterOfNeverKnown
Summary: "What about a flag or a flare?" Percy's mom had said. "Something blue," he had assured her. The short conversation runs through Annabeth's head as she runs. She has seen him. After eight months, she sees him
1. Percy

I threw one arm around Hazel and one arm around Frank. "Come on," I said. "Let me introduce you to my _other_ family."

Frank whitens visibly, but Hazel does a little skip and gushes, "Ooh, I can't wait!"

I laugh at Frank's expression. "But first, we need to find something blue."

"What?" both my friends ask at once.

"Big too. Something they can see from the ship. Like a blanket or something. Any ideas?" I look back and forth between them.

Hazel thinks for a moment. "I think Octavian has a blue cape in the amphitheater, but…"

"Perfect!" I interrupt. If I get to tick Octavian off in the deal, all the better. Grinning madly, I start dragging Frank and Hazel towards the stone-columned place where our esteemed prophecy man does his stuffed animal killing. My companions look kinda terrified. I'm not sure if it's of Octavian's wrath or my newfound craziness. We end up walking directly _away_ from the oncoming warship, and I frequently glance over my shoulder at it. Unfortunately, I can't see anybody from this distance, let alone Annabeth.

Luckily, we don't have to spend too much time searching for Octavian's blue cape. It is right there on top of some other stuff (like dead teddy bears and other Pillow-Pets that are no longer Pillow-Pets) in a nice trunk outside the columned plaza. I pull it out and hold it up. Yep, this will work.

"You guys go on without me," I tell Frank and Hazel. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Don't let the Romans attack, okay? Whatever you do." I have already started running when Hazel calls after me.

"Wha-? Where are you going?"

"Trust me! I'll be right back!"

"Percy!"

"Go!" And then I am too far to hear if she responded.

I run for the building where Reyna has her almighty praetor office space, and slam through the back door. I don't know my way around very well, but I still manage to find the staircase without crashing through the entire place. Mounting the stairs two at a time, I run up and up and up until I reach the door that must lead to the attic. I barrel through, search for a way to the roof, find it, and scramble to it. I pull open the small hatch, and then attempt to maneuver my six foot odd body through it and onto the roof. Finally out, I stand up warily and tie Octavian's blue cape to the flagpole atop the house.

As I climb back into the house, jump down the stairs, and run for the mass of Romans surrounding the now landed warship, I think to myself that everything will be okay now. She will get it. She will know I've regained my memories. She will understand the blue…


	2. Annabeth

Annabeth watches as the Roman Camp Half-Blood becomes larger and larger. She can see the layout, so perfectly planned, with its open columned veranda and spread of big marble buildings. This seems like a place she would have normally loved, but knowing that Percy, her Percy, has been here while she searched desperately for him makes her bitter towards the beautiful place slowly getting closer as the _Argo II_ descends.

Finally, the massive warship is close enough to the ground that Annabeth and her three companions – Jason, Piper, and Leo – can make out hundreds of angry or scared Roman faces. This will most likely end in disaster.

"This… is not good," Leo comments, pointing to a Roman girl who has just pulled twin swords from her back. Other demigods have begun exposing weapons as well.

The ship lands in an open patch of grass barely big enough to hold it. The Romans don't move.

"I thought you said that Percy would help us," Jason says to Annabeth, drawing his own sword. "That he would make sure they wouldn't attack us."

"They're not attacking, are they?" Annabeth snaps back. She is more nervous than she is letting on. What if Percy hadn't gotten the message Leo sent? What if he got it, but didn't talk to the lead Romans? What if he doesn't remember her at all? What if he has found a new girlfriend in the eight months he has been gone? There are too many 'what ifs.' And as a strategist, Annabeth _hates_ 'what ifs.'

"No," Jason conceds, but he still doesn't look like he is okay with Annabeth's answer. He had once been a part of the hostile people below them, but he can't remember anything about them. All he knows is they are fighters, fiercer and more ruthless than the Greeks he has spent the last months with.

Annabeth looks back down at the campers – sorry, stupid, boyfriend-hostage-holding warriors – and tries to count them. Her math-geared brain automatically groups them into tens, but she barely makes it past 210 when Piper's loud, clear, charmspeak-riddled voice grabs her attention away.

"Romans!" Piper calls from the stern of the _Argo II_. "We come in peace!"

Leo leans into Jason. "Doesn't that make us sound like invading aliens? Maybe we should have given her a script."

"Well, to them, we _are_ aliens. And we're _technically_ invading," Jason mutters out of the corner of his mouth.

"We are here as friends!" Piper continues. "Please lower your weapons; we are here to join forces!"

A few Romans, all with drop-dead good looks and curly hair, don't just lower their weapons; they plain drop them to the ground.

_Aphrodite kids,_ Annabeth snorts to herself.

Piper cringes, probably thinking the same thing as Annabeth.

Some of the remaining Romans lower their swords, spears, or bows a little, but it isn't reassuring in the least.

"My friends and I," Piper shouts, "are here to ask for your help. We wish to speak with someone we know. Where is Percy Jackson?"

A pang hits Annabeth's heart. Is it excitement? Sorrow? Want? She doesn't know. She searches the crowd below her desperately, looking for his face, his hair, his eyes, his smile. It has been so long. She _has_ to see him.

"Percy Jackson?" Piper yells again.

Then… Annabeth sees it. The blue cloth flying from the top of a central building. _Blue…_

"Percy!" She screams his name, letting all her fear and loneliness make it sound like a banshee's wail. Finally, she spots him. Running towards the warship in a purple drape. She screams his name again.

"Percy!" Someone else calls him.

Annabeth watche, clinging to the edge of the ship so tightly her knuckles are white, as a small girl with dark skin and a large boy with black hair try to stop Percy. She thinks about flinging her dagger at their hands, but then Percy shoves them aside and continues towards the ship, pushing through the masses of Romans.

The blue banner flaps in the wind, drawing Annabeth's eyes to it. _Blue._ He remembers. He has to remember. Why else would there be a blue flag in a land of purple? He remembers. Something blue…

_"What about a flag or a flare?" Percy's mom had said. "From Olympus – the Empire State Building."_

_ "Something blue," Percy had assured her._

The short conversation runs through her head the way a song lyric does in a situation that fits it best.

"Annabeth!" His voice, after not hearing it for so long, pulses through her like electricity.

"Percy!" Ignoring the voices of her Greek companions, Annabeth stumbles to the gangplank, pushes it over the edge of the warship, and runs down. Before she realizes it, she is on the ground and she can see him. Without thinking, she closes the distance between them and flies at him with a hug.

He holds her tightly, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around. "Annabeth…" he says quietly, his fingers finding her hair.

"You remember," she murmurs.

"Of course I remember. Blue…"

"Something blue," they say in unison.

"But how is it possible?" Annabeth's feet return to the ground and she looks up at her boyfriend, not releasing her arms from around him. "Jason still doesn't-"

Percy cuts her off with a kiss. "Later," he promises. "I missed you so much, Wise Girl." He kisses her again and she forgets everything.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Annabeth knows they are still surrounded by Romans and everyone is watching them. But in that moment, all she cares about is having found him again.

Everything else can wait.


End file.
